Hero of The Empire
by sithazazel
Summary: the Empire has fallen into civil war, but our of its ranks arise heros, one of these is Jules azazel, a man torn between light and dark side of the force, who must decide to use the force to bring peace or to embrace darkness and reign over the galaxy
1. Chapter 1

**FALL TO TRAGEDY  
-In the beginning…**

several years before the empire was born

Jules Azazel was born on Carida to Governor Nestor, and Jade Azazel, 20 years before the empire took over the galaxy. He grew up in Carida; his father was the wealthy governor of the world. As a young boy Azazel proved to be very smart and keen, he seemed to have a sixth sense about things. At the age of 8 he was tested for Jedi abilities. It was found that he had very high force abilities and was chosen by the Jedi council to be trained. 2 years later at the age of 10 he left Carida and his family and was taken to the Jedi academy in Corusant. There he was instructed for 3 years on how to use the force and harness its power. He developed great swords man skills and had an incredible ability in the design and engineering of things. He also was a master tactician, far beyond his years. By age 16 he was assigned as a padawan to master Calltrax. He was his padawan for 4 more years until the age of 19. This is where his life changed forever.

One day as he was walking to the senate next to his master he spotted a girl around the age of 18. She was beautiful, she had bright red hair and was fair skinned, she was slender and had a beautiful body. She had the bluest, most enticing eyes he had ever seen. He later made a few inquires and learned that she was the daughter of a wealthy junior senator from Carida. He decided that he would meet her and later that day he escaped from the Jedi academy to go looked for her. He found her in the living complex of the senators. He talked to her, Melina and immediately fell in love. Her name was Melina. She seemed to fancy him too, and every time the senate was in session they would meet outside the senate hall. Although Azazel knew it was wrong to disobey orders he could not curb his feelings towards the girl.

His master soon noticed his lack of concentration, even during force exercises. His mind seemed clouded. His dedication to the Jedi arts wavered so much that Calltrax decided followed Azazel on his free time and see where he was going. He learned about this girl and was a bit displeased. Master Calltrax took this to master Yoda, and they debated what to do. Soon they called Azazel before the council and they interrogated him. After a long discussion it was concluded that Azazel should leave the Jedi academy. Azazel agreed, he felt that although he could handle most of what the Jedi order demanded of him, he could not live without this girl. So the decision was made final and he departed from the Jedi order, he was although allowed to take his prototype lightsaber he had made, as a souvenir of his studies at the Jedi academy. He had all the skills to be a Jedi, but he didn't have the dedication or the time to be qualified as one. He thought it was the best for him to do. His family would not be displeased as his father had not been very pleased that his son be taken away from him.

During Azazel's time at the Jedi academy his family had moved to Corusant too. His father, the past governor of Carida, had been elected to the senate on behalf of the Carida system and he and Melina's father represented Carida. They were extremely loyal to chancellor Palpatine and the chancellor favored them too. His departure from the Jedi academy and his father influence is the dealings of Palpatine were both convenient to Azazel. Soon after he left the academy Palpatine closed the Jedi academy and started a persecution of all Jedi. He then eliminated the senate, but kept the loyal senators. Soon both his father and Melina's father were made advisors to the emperor. Azazel's father was named governor of Corusant and advisor to the emperor. Melina's father was in charge of population control and city expansion, but also advised the emperor.

Once out of the Jedi academy Azazel had had no trouble finding a job, he had remarkable skills and soon was head of an engineering program in Corusant. The empire soon took notice of his skills. The emperor's advisors soon talked to his father and then Azazel was placed by the emperor himself as head designer of Signus and Sinar fleet works. He was to design the new imperial navy for the empire. At the age of 20 he was head of all of this. Melina was still at his side; she had taken a liking to politics and was soon an advocate for the emperor in Corusant. A year later at the age of 21, Azazel married Melina, with even the emperor attending their wedding. The Azazel family had fallen in favor of the emperor and they were put under the emperor's protection. As the years passed Azazel helped design the fighters now know as all the different kinds of tie fighters, star destroyers and other ships. He also designed the walkers and scout ships used by the imperial army. He was very successful and was favored by the emperor. By now the emperor had realized that Azazel had force ability and had started to seed the dark side in him. He made him part of his secret society. Which is why he has the ancient symbol of the Sith tattooed on his shoulder.

As time progress and each Azazel and Melina became more successful at their jobs they moved out of the governor's palace and into a huge apartment in the executive complex. It had been a gift the emperor had given them. They were the model family for the empire, hard working and extremely loyal. The apartment was a very luxurious place, fit for senators and kings. Soon after settling in they started a family. Azazel's first child was born the following year after they were married. He named her jade, after his mother. They lived a quiet life the 3 of them for some time…for now.


	2. Chapter 2

**FALL TO TRAGEDY  
-joining the empire…**

Everything was going great for the family until Azazel was summoned by the emperor; he had a special job for him. He was to help Bevel, the top designer for the emperor to build the ultimate weapon, the death star. He was soon setup to work. His job would be to design the super laser components that would be used, and to devise a system that would help the laser not over load and self destruct as did the first prototypes. After a short amount of time he soon figured out the problem and was on his way of finding a solution. But something he didn't know was that details of this death star had leaked out and the rebels had become aware of the death star plans. Further more they had found out who the designers were. The rebel high command had agreed that in order to stop the program they would have to take out the designers. The whole program was still on the drawing board and only the designers knew all the details of the super weapon. They picked a team of commandos that would go to Corusant and take care of these engineers, including Azazel. They would take him hostage interrogate him and then if he didn't defect dispose of him. This was the plan the rebels had devised. It would be carried out immediately since the threat of this weapon was imminent.

And so the plan was carried out several days later on a stormy night around midnight. All the windows in Azazel apartment were dark. Melina was fast asleep in her chamber and in the adjacent room jade was fast asleep in her little bed. Azazel was not at the apartment, he was at Signus labs working on the design. But the rebel agents were not aware of this. They had trusted a street dealer that had sold them information. As the clock struck twelve there was a sudden blast and the door of the apartment was blasted open. This woke up Melina and she jumped out of bed. She grabbed a blaster Azazel had taught her to use and she ran to Jades room. It was quiet for a few minutes but then she saw a shadow in the hall way and heard foot steps. As a dark figure appeared in the door way she fired. A body hit the floor. She had killed the first rebel agent. But then 3 more came into the room. One ran towards her and knocked the blaster out of her hand. She was knocked to the floor but got up and hit another agent in the face, she put out a tough fight but soon one of the rebels grabbed her.

As one of the agent rebels held her the other questioned her. They asked her where Azazel was. She refused to respond, and then suddenly managed to free one arm, she grabbed the rebels side arm and was about to fire at the rebel interrogating her when a third rebel fired a blaster bolt. The rebel had intended to shoot and knock the blaster off her hand but he had missed and the shoot missed the blast, hit the window, and was reflected hitting Melina. She fell to her knees in pain but managed to get two shots off before the rebels could leave the room. She hit the rebel that had fired and the rebel that was holding her. As she shot at the rebels her blaster bolts also set off the alarm. The rebel that had interrogated her had made a dash for jade, grabbed her and left the room. She dropped the laser and laid down on the floor. She was in intense pain and knew she was mortally wounded as she heard footsteps of storm troopers were heard in the hall way. But it was too late the rebel had escaped.

In a large office in Sygnus labs, Azazel's intercom beeped. It had an urgent message, it said emergency…terrible situation, come home immediately, it was signed, N.A, Nestor Azazel his father. Azazel dropped what he was doing and hurried to the garage where he kept his speeder and rushed home. When he arrived he found storm troopers at the entrance of the complex and imperial guards walking around the complex. Nearing his apartment door he saw there were 3 imperial officers standing in the hall. He walked into his apartment and met his father there; Nestor took him into the living room and made him sit down. He told him that rebel agents had attempted to assassinate Azazel they had raided his apartment in hopes of kidnapping or assassinating him. Azazel immediately asked about Jade and Melina. Nestor told him that jade was missing, but assured him that imperial troops were going to get her back, they had a lead on the kidnapper, a lie. Then he told him Melina was in the apartment, there was a pause and then he told him that nothing could prepare him to say what he had to tell his son. He sat down with him and told him, Melina had tried to defend jade but had been shot in the process, she had managed to take out 2 of the 3 rebel agents but in the process was mortally wounded. Azazel couldn't believe it; his life had come crashing down in a matter of minutes. Nestor continued, Melina in the bedroom, she is still alive but barely, the doctors have made her comfortable but they said she only has hours.

Azazel didn't wait to for Nestor to finish. He rushed into the bedroom and saw his Wife lying on the bed. Eyes closed. He sat by her side and held her hand. She opened her eyes, her face was pale and her blue eyes were pale and sad. She greeted him and said sorry she couldn't defend her daughter. He stopped her in mid sentence and told her it was alright, she had done her best. He kissed her, and said nothing. He just sat there looking into her eyes. Slowly Melina's eyes started to shut. Whispering he told her , I love you. She tried to say it back but was unable to make her mouth move. He grabbed her and held her close. Her eyes shut, and her chest stopped moving. She died in his arms. A tear rolled down Azazel's cheek, damned those rebels he screamed out, damned them. He vowed to get revenge. The rebels would pay. They would pay dearly.

That next day after Melina's funeral, Azazel headed to Sygnus main offices, he turned in his resignation as director of research, and then walked towards what used to be the senate, now part of the emperors palace. He went into the throne room where the emperor was waiting for him. The emperor had sense he had some sort of force power and had felt him come. Azazel told him his plan; he had resigned and was signing up to be in the imperial navy, he wanted a piece of those rebels who had destroyed his life. The emperor agreed and told him that he would make him a commander in his personal fleet that guarded Corusant. But Azazel refused the offer; he thanked the emperor but told him that he would make his way in the imperial navy. The emperor chuckled and told him, do to do as he wished. The emperor knew he had Azazel in his grasp, he knew that he would do anything to get back at the rebels. And that he was strong in the force. He would soon be his, his new pawn to bring darkness to the galaxy. He gave him his blessings and sent him off to the imperial war center.

The next day Azazel reported to the imperial war center. There he was assigned to pilot training. Since he had worked at Sygnus designing ties and other spaceships, they figured he could now pilot them. Azazel liked the idea, he knew all the workings and every part of every ship in service, and he had had part in designing most of them. Hours later he was in imperial uniform on a transport that was more fit for carrying foodstuffs then troops. He was off to Tarlus; there they would give him his basic training as a pilot and also as a Stormtrooper.

He arrived there and they were divided into groups, each with a commander as a leader. The commanders were usually veteran tie fighters, now retired from combat but very experienced. Azazel's group was taken to what seemed to be a class room of a sort, and then their commander entered, he wore a space fight suit equipped with helmet. He came in and took off his helmet and a dark tired face appeared, with dark eyes and full of scars. He started teaching them the basics of flying.

3 weeks later Azazel had mastered flying tie fighters, he was at an advantage having designed them and also having the influence of the force. He was at the head of his class and enjoyed having a reputation for even challenging his commander. Soon he was called to the director's office a retired fleet admiral. As he entered his office, the admiral started to talk to him, He said "we've been watching you, and you've surprised us a lot, you've defied your class mates, your commander and even me". There was a long pause, and then the director told him, that he had been selected to go to officer school, he would be a tie fighter but would not start as a cadet as his fellow pilots would, but as a lieutenant. Azazel accepted and 2 days later he was on an imperial shuttle heading to his home planet Carida, which had the best officer school in the empire. When he arrived he was given a crisp new black uniform.

At the new school he was taught tactics and advanced tie maneuvers. He was also taught about the politic issues of the empire and trained to be a leader. As an officer he would mainly train as a pilot, but also would have to pick a secondary specialization. He picked ground commander. He would not only be a pilot but he would also be qualified to command imperial forces on the ground. 3 months passed and he was given his rank as lieutenant and certified as a tie pilot. But this is when his ground assault training began. He was drilled in tactics and ground maneuvers. His final test finally came. He was given a squadron of storm troopers and was tasked with taking out a rebel outpost. He passed this test and was given a secondary rank of ground assault leader. He graduated from the academy first in his class and was recognized by the emperor. He received the Medal of Achievement and was then assigned for duty. He was assigned to a small task force near Van Sluis. He was attached to the 103rd tie interceptor squadron and stationed on the crusher, a victory class star destroyer.

In his squadron he was given the second in command, and found that his wing man was a close friend of his, lieutenant Cordell a roommate in the academy. Their commander, captain Zane, Cordell and Azazel made up the wing command for the squadron of 15 ties. Zane commanded the whole squadron and in missions he lead alpha group, which was made up of 5 ties. Azazel led beta group, and Cordell lead delta group.

Months passed and they had many skirmishes, they lost one or two fighters, but were never defeated. They started to make quite a reputation for themselves and became one of the leading squadrons in whole fleet.

One day they were sitting in the officer's room, when the alarm went off, rebel ships had just entered the sector, and were on an attack pattern towards their task force. All ties were scrambled and ordered to attack the enemy before it attacked them. Alpha, beta and delta group were scrambled together, and they headed out to meet the other fleet, hopefully they could destroy the capital ships before they had all their fighters out of the hanger. But when they got closer, from behind the capital ships 3 waves of fighters came out, it had been an ambush. The ties were out numbered 5 to 1, and quickly the numbers of ships in each group diminished. In less then 5 minutes it was just Zane with his wing man, Cordell by himself and Azazel with 3 of his fighters against 13 rebel fighters. They had fought a good fight but it seemed that there was no chance. They started to go toward each other. Suddenly 3 ties blew up along with 6 rebel ships. Now it was just Cordell, Zane and Azazel against 3 rebels. Cordell took out his fighter and then help Zane, Azazel chased his rebel fighter. But soon the rebel fighter flipped on him, he fired and hit the cockpit. Azazel felt a burning sensation in his arm, but had more important things to worry about. His weapons systems were disabled and more ships were scrambled from the rebel ships.

Zane called a retreat, Cordell headed toward the crusher, and so did Zane. Azazel was trailing behind with an a-wing in his tail. He knew he wouldn't make it, and so did Zane. Zane suddenly turned his tie around and headed towards Azazel, he got right behind the a-wing and started chasing him into the swarm of rebel fighters. Azazel screamed into his comm., "Are you crazy". All Zane said was "I order you to get back to the ship". Azazel had no choice and did as he was orders, even though he didn't want to. As Azazel reached the hangar, he saw Zane's ship being chased by 4 rebel fighters and suddenly they had him. His ship blew up into millions of pieces. Azazel rushed thru the hanger and got Cordell. He was enraged, he told Cordell, "get me a comm. line to the fleet, tell them I need a wing of new fighters." This was not the end the battle, 3 hours later a carrier ship arrived with 15 new ties, as soon as they were in the hanger; Azazel went out to inspect them. He was the new commander of the squadron. He liked what he saw, next time the rebels wouldn't be so lucky.


	3. Chapter 3

**BIRTH OF A DARK HERO**

**-embracing revenge…**

His chance at revenge came 2 weeks later; his task force confronted a rebel fleet of 3 ships. He ordered his men to their ships and off they went. The battle was a grueling one, it lasted 3 hours, but at the end 2 of the rebel capital ships were flaming wreckage, and the 3rd had been disabled. Azazel's squadron had lost only 3 fighters and had shot down 46 fighters, Cordell had shot down 8 and Azazel had gotten 10. He had avenged his commander's death. Back on the crusher they were congratulated and they all celebrated. That night Azazel and Cordell were called to the commander's quarters. They were told that a shuttle was waiting for them; they would be given more orders later.

They obeyed and headed to the docking bay. There they got on the shuttle and it quickly entered hyperspace. Hours later the shuttle emerged from hyper space in front of a huge fleet of 25 ships. They headed towards a superstar destroyer. They knew were they were; they were with the death fleet, Darth Vader's personal armada. On the Executor they met up with a colonel, who told them their new assignments. They were part of an elite tie squadron now, their name, Avenger squadron. They would fly the newest tie, the tie advanced. Azazel knew about this model but it wasn't finished when he left. He served as a tie avenger for 3 years with Cordell, they ascended rank as they flew missions and as the pilots before them were killed. Soon they had flown 100 missions and reached their 500th kill. Command and even Darth Vader himself recognized them for their achievement, not many pilots lasted this long. They decided that it would be wise to make them into imperial officers and stop them from being pilots; they couldn't risk losing such potential.

So one day they were called to Darth Vader's quarters. He personally gave them the news. Azazel because of his secondary training in ground assault would be sent to Carida again to train to be commander of the outer rim assault army. As for Cordell, he would go to Corsin to study to be a fleet officer and commander of a star destroyer. The friends sadly left each other.

On Carida Azazel's training started immediately, he was sent from the freezing polar ice caps, to human made desserts and simulators in the imperial academy. He was a great strategist and cool headed. His premonitions from the force gave him a great advantage, he graduated in 3 months and was assigned to the outer rim, to star destroyer Vengeance. There met the commander of vengeance, who he would be coordinating attacks with and was surprised to learn that in charge was commander Cordell. They agreed that together they would bring terror to the rebellion.

As time progress Azazel took over many worlds for the empire and decimated many rebel bases. He ascended in rank as fast as did Cordell. Soon they found themselves with the rank of general and admiral. Their force had grown from one star destroyer to 15, plus transport vessels, and their small assault force had grown to 5 armored divisions and 50 squadrons of storm troopers. They were very successful. It seemed nothing could stop them from bring terror. The dark side had grown in Azazel very too. He was not only a natural leader but a natural warrior. The dark side flowed through him; it enhanced his fighting abilities, made his lust for battle unquenchable. He was not a conventional general though. Unlike other imperial generals who hid in their armored transports behind the front line, he fought with his men, side by side. His men loved him for that and gave him their full loyalty. To the rebels he was a ruthless warrior that made even the most daring rebel cower in fear. He had had his vengeance on the rebels but wanted more. He felt pleasure in crushing them. It brought him pleasure and joy, but soon he would realize he was wrong, but it would cost him very much.

The task force was asked to subdue an uprising on Sluis Van. Rebels had taken control of the planet and were "harming the citizens". The task force was immediately deployed on its way. But this would be a very important battle, a very costly battle for the empire. When the task force came out of hyper space Azazel had was ready with his troops, he would attack with 10 armored divisions and 30 squadrons of troopers. He believed this was enough. As usual he would lead the attack in his modified at-at. When they got to the planet they were confronted with a fleet about the size of their own fleet. It seemed that the battle would be in space and on the ground. Azazel landed his troops and started to take ground, he had to fight for ever foot of land but he was advancing nicely. When he reached the capital city, he saw that the citizens instead of helping the empire were against it, and was angered very much. He suddenly felt something inside him, as if darkness took over his body. He decided that he would crush all who opposed, he sent for reinforcements and soon all his army was there. As his divisions pulled up, surrounding the city, he ordered them to open fire on the city, killing rebels, militia and citizens. The dark force ran through his veins, engulfing his very soul.

He lost many men, but soon Sluis van was void of citizens. Azazel had killed them all. Up in space Cordell had taken care of the rebel fleet, 2 out of the 15 ships had managed to get to hyper space but the rest had been destroyed. Cordell had only lost 3 ships.

After the victory the dark side left Azazel and a feeling of self awareness hit Azazel. What had he done! He had killed everyone and everything, the toll reached 4 million. His army had crushed everything in Sluis van; it was a waste land now, something not seen since the destruction of Alderaan. When Azazel returned to the vengeance and went to his quarters where he meditated. The dark and light force fought each other in his mind, clouding his feelings, tearing him apart from the inside. Every one in the galaxy had heard about the battle of Sluis van. It made all the holo news every where. The vengeance task force was nicknamed the plague. Azazel was named the butcher of Sluis. He was seen as a blood hungry warrior out of control, the empire loved him, but the rebels despised him, they wanted him dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**BIRTH OF A DARK HERO**

**-exiled into darkness …**

A week later a distress signal was intercepted by the vengeance task force, it came from Talarus; rebels had taken a base on the planet and had amassed an army. The task force set its course immediately for the planet. When they arrived they found an isolated place where they set up for a ground assault. They learned that the rebel base was in a gorge about 100 clicks to where hey had established their base, Azazel though it would be easy but he took special precautions. He chose to go with 3 armored divisions, and a group of imperial commandos. The armored division would advance into the gorge, and surround the base since it was blocked by mountains one three sides. The armored divisions would cut any escape route and the commands entered from above and take out the rebels from inside the base. 3 hours later when all preparations where made the attack was executed. Azazel expected a short and easy campaign.

The 3 divisions made their was up the gorge and as soon as they were 500 meters from the base the commando team infiltrated the base. Suddenly a comm, came thru the commandos leader voice blaring out. She said the base was empty, there was nothing in it. Then suddenly there was a flash, and the base blew up in a cloud of black smoke. It was a trap. Azazel quickly ordered all the vehicles to turn around and get out of the gorge, but it was too late. The rebels had trapped them. They would have to fight their way out. 5 rebel armored divisions met his 3 divisions. Azazel tried to radio for reinforcement and retrieval but the rebels had jammed communication. Up in space a fleet of 20 rebel ships exited hyper space and surrounded the vengeance task force. A fierce battle started on the ground and on land.

On the ground Azazel's armored divisions started to fire on the rebel ones. Soon most vehicles on both sides were destroyed and a huge ground battle started. Azazel at-at was hit by an anti Amour missile and tipped over. He managed to escaped with just a few scratches though, and joined the ground battle. Rebel troops fought bravely against the storm troopers, but the rebels were quickly pushed back. Suddenly 5 ground transports come thru the gorge, 5 more rebel trooper regiments had come to reinforce the rebels and with this the tides turned on Azazel's stormtroopers. They began falling,

Azazel blaster soon became useless in such close combat range and he dropped it for his lightsaber. It had been a long time since he had used but he quickly started cutting down rebel troopers. He met up with his colonel, a women about 25, she was new and was scared, although a highly trained soldier, she had never really been in combat. At least never in combat like this. He stayed by her fighting off rebels, then in one sudden move he pushed her out of the way and a vibro spike went into his leg. If he had not moved her , the spike would have gone thru her chest. When she realized this, she collapsed and started to cry. Azazel grabbed the spike and pulled it out of his leg, then cut the arm off the rebel who had thrown in with his light saber. Then he picked her up and took her to a close transport. Cordell had seen how the battle in space was going and figured that it was not fairing well for his friend on the ground either. He had issued a retreat and had sent recovery shuttles. Quickly Azazel got the colonel into the shuttle and then headed back, he didn't care about his injury, all he knew was that he had to push the rebels back, failure was not acceptable.

Hours passed and the battle continued, he managed to regroup several squadrons and push back the rebels and force them to retreat. As he did this Cordell successfully manipulated his fleet and drove the rebels away. The last rebels on the ground were leaving on a shuttle and were holding their ground, trying to escape with as many troops as possible to fight another day. Azazel had decided to deny them this escape and lead a squad towards them, he wouldn't let them escape. They ambushed this makeshift evac site and a fire fight erupted, most of the rebels were picked off easily but some resisted the Stormtroopers decided to end this firefight quickly and charged the rebels along with Azazel. They had almost decimated all the rebels, when Azazel felt a stream of pain hit him in his shoulder, then his side, and then his other side. A burning feeling over took him and he fell to the ground, and blacked out.

He awoke a day later in a pile of bodies, some dead some alive, he was still in the damn gorge, surrounded by bodies. Suddenly he heard someone coming; it was a search party that was looking for him. He opened his eyes and saw someone came over; he blinked his eyes and soon made out a colonel. It was the one he had saved, she had spotted him and was coming towards him but suddenly at the corner of his eyes he saw a half wounded rebel pick up his laser, he tried to move, tell her to stop, but he couldn't, a blaster shot was heard, and the colonel fell to the ground, storm troopers quickly ran up to where the colonel was and shot the rebel several times, making sure he was dead. They picked the colonel and then the general and took them to a field hospital.

It was filled with wounded troopers. They were put next to each other, the medics had decided that the colonel would not make it back alive, and as for the general, they had to get him out of there as soon as possible, or else he would face the same fate. But he refused to leave the colonel. Across the cots he talked to her, comforting her, while he himself was bleeding. He told her that he would save her life again, he promised. The colonel gave a little laugh, she told him that he had saved her life once, and that she couldn't defy death another time. She started to say something else, but stopped mid sentence. She died out in the field hospital. The general was then taken away to a shuttle, and then to the sick bay on the vengeance. The empire had lost 40000 storm troopers, 3 armored divisions and 6 fleet ships. But it had driven the rebels out, even if it had been costly.

2 weeks later the general had recovered from his wounds. He had been hit in the shoulder by a blaster bolt, a second one had grazed his side, and a third had gone thru his chest collapsing his lung, he was lucky to be alive. But in the near future that could change very quickly. In the eyes of the emperor he had failed, he had lost too many men. He was removed form the vengeance task force, but he was given a fleet and an army of his own. But his punishment was much worse then this, even though he had one of the biggest task forces in the navy, he was ordered to the outer rim region where the known galaxy met the unknown regions. All there was there was there were dead planets and under developed planets. This was his punishment, his thirst for vengeance and crushing the rebellion was denied. He would patrol these regions until he retired. But even though it angered Azazel, he realized that it wasn't that bad, the last battle had made him realize something, that the rebels and his own troops were people too. Not everything had to be avenged with death. The dark side of the force had subsided for some time in his body, it was becoming balanced.

He started his new command with a positive attitude, he had now more time to meditate on his powers. Soon 3 years pasted and still the rebellion was at large, while he patrolled the outer rim, avoiding the great battles that ensued in the core system. Then one day a urgent message come. The message read: emperor dead, imperial fleet destroyed, the rebels have taken over. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, their beloved empire had fallen. It was unbearable news. Azazel immediately called to the officer on deck, to head to Corsin, he knew the remaining fleets would amass there, and from there he would see what they would do. 2 days later his fleet arrived at Corsin, the site was sad, only 38 ships had made it to Corsin, some had major damaged, they had had to fight their way thru rebel blockades. Azazel soon learned that the rebels had taken out most of the command ships and for now a commander was leading them. As soon as he arrived the commander handed the command to Azazel, who combined all the ships, making a very formidable fleet, and headed to Dantooine where they would repair the ships and also try to revive the empire. Now more then ever the force was unbalanced in Azazel, his meditation and training had given him control of his powers, but the dark side flowed through Azazel's veins now. His was eager to get back at the rebels …


	5. Chapter 5

**LOVE IN THE DARKNESS**

**A new beginning ….**

Along with his new fleet of ships, Azazel was sent a new second in command. She was a major and her name was Aurra. She was a beautiful women, and full of energy and excitement. It reminded him of his dead wife. He had a good feeling about his new major, Aurra was a young only about 23 years old, and she had vibrant red hair. She was new to his fleet; he had transferred her from one of the last star destroyers he had been able to salvage from the battle of Endor. Their first encounter happened shortly after she had entered Azazel's command ship. She entered the room with a scared look on her face. She was nervous, she had never really been in the presence of a general and definitely not one of his stature. She saluted him and he welcomed her with a warm smile. He told her to tell the captain to set the hyper drive to the hoth system. And to round up his council of officers, for there was much to discuss. He then told her that as second in command she would stay on the bridge, and control the situation. Then jokingly he said that she could relax, and gave a chuckle. Aurra gave him a half smile and then stepped out to do her duties.

later on that day the general sat at his study, the nostalgia started to set in, his major reminded him so much of his wife he started thinking about the years they had spent together, but suddenly a surge of anger came over him, he crushed the data pad he was holding in his had, the rebellion would pay, if it was the last thing he did. Suddenly he heard the door open again and jumped out of this state, the dark side had taken control of him for a little while, but now had receded into him. It was the major again, she told him that everything was ready; he stood up and walked towards the meeting room, thanking her as he walked away. As he walked he sense Aurra staring at him while he walked down the hall way, he smiled to himself and walked on.

After the meeting the general went up to the bridge of his star destroyer, and sat in his chair on the bridge. He was deep in thought; the whole fleet was in hyper space jumping form Tatooine to Camino there he would execute his perfect plan. He thought of the glory the empire had been and how that would soon return. Suddenly he sensed somebody behind him, it was the major, she saluted him and he asked what she had for him. The major replied, "we are three days from arriving at the Camino system sir, we still haven't gotten a reply from the scouts and its been already several days, sir". The general replied, "yes it has hasn't it", he started to ponder for a second. Then he spoke to the major, "what do you make of it major?" The major replied, "Sir I don't think it is my place to say sir". The general laughed, "You don't have to be so official major, please now drop the sir thing, and only when in presence of other officers will you call me sir do you understand?" The major replied, "Yes si... general". Azazel once again laughed.

The major then spoke, "Well I think that we should wait for the scouts to contact us before doing anything". The general replied, "Yes I think you are right major, thank you for your opinion". the major walked off, the general remained at his seat, he felt something in the force, but wasn't sure if it was bad or good, he stared out of the bridge window, out to hyperspace, seeing the stars pass by...

Days later the fleet arrived at Camino and the plan was revealed. Azazel knew what was in Camino. He had been there when he was part of the Jedi order at the end of the clone wars. It was where the supply of clone troopers had come from. Now it was abandoned. "Lieutenant, get 5 storm transports ready and my armored shuttle, have conscan scan for a large platform in the central ocean, which should be the entrance to the underwater facilities. Oh and captain tell construction corps to be ready to build, as soon  
as we secure the area, we should have the headquarters running in no time". "Yes sir", said the lieutenant. A captain came into the quarters too, "I want you to set up 3 of our prefab spaceports around the planet, this will be our home for a while I hope. Remember to set up the defense platforms too, I want the fleet refueled and repair in 48 hours. By then I should have the headquarters done too. Oh and tell the crew that we shall have fresh food, no more space junk cardboard for us", the general said chuckling as he went into his changing area to put on his sith cloak a present the long dead emperor had given him once. He knew they were still there, the cloners, they had served the Jedi well, but he did not know what their reaction would be after so many years. The empire had hit their planet hard, but the cloners did not know that he was from the empire. The general thought to himself what they don't know won't hurt them.

15 minutes later the transports were ready. The squad leaders were round up together chatting, the general was taking 5 squads with him, plus 4 special commandos dressed as Jedi's. He was wearing his tunic all black with a leather cape that wrapped around him, his head was hooded as to not show his face, and he was armed only with his lightsaber. He came close to the squad leaders, and told them that they would land on the cargo platform and would wait for his signal if he needed them. He would land at the main shuttle platform and go in first with his 4 troops; he expected no resistance but was cautious. A few minutes later the shuttle departed the flagship and headed down to the planet. The shuttles skimmed the rough water flying towards what looked like a space station floating on the water. The shuttles departed at this point, 5 heading to a huge landing platform in the east side, and one towards a small but elaborate platform on the west side, the shuttle slowly put down.

Azazel was the first out, and his 4 troopers followed. He walked towards the door, and they slid open, there to meet him was a Camino cloner, she was tall and white, same strange creature he had seen when he had been there as a boy, she lead them into a white room. There they waited and met Osbosa, he was the owner of the cloning facilities, and was very old. He asked, "tell me Jedi master, how our clone army is doing, do you need more clones? Remember if you need more, we will need more time to clone them". The general thought to himself, these creatures are very misinformed, if only they knew what had happened, all they knew is that the planet was bombed for some reason and soon left. It had been 2 decades since the last Jedi's were on the planet, and then he came to his senses. "Yes the clone army was wondrous sir, and we do not need more clones. What we need sir is this facility, if you wish we will pay you for it", he said in a menacing voice. "hmmmm..", Thought the Camino, "no I don't think I would like that master Jedi, we Camino like our privacy". "Really?" Said the general, as he pressed the COM link on his wrist communicator. Outside on the main platform the 5 squads of storm troopers came hurdling out, into the facility. As they did that, the four men with Azazel dropped their cloaks and pulled out their heavy blaster pistols, they were dressed in full imperial armor. The Camino in surprised backed against the wall. He was too scared to say anything. The general took off his hood and showed his face, he pulled out his lightsaber, and a red laser blade hummed right next to the Caminos face. "you are no Jedi, sir", said the Camino shaking with fear. "Oh yes I am", said the general, "I am just not like anyone you've seen. I am one of the last that remain. I tried to make things easy for you but no, you had to go and mess things up. Now to business, your facilities are mine, I claim this facility in the name of the empire. Oh don't worry sir", the general said to the Camino, "we'll take care of you". Commander, he said to one of his troopers, "take this vermin and his assistant to the holding area were the rest of them are, the Stormtroopers have round most of them up". The general sat on the Caminos chair, "set up my office here lieutenant", he said to the other trooper at his side. Then he took the COM link, "captain, you may send the construction corp down. We have lots of work to do; we must setup the underwater facilities and the underwater shipyard in 48 hours". The captain replied, "yes sir, and sir the platforms are set, the defense platforms are up too and the ships have started refueling". "Thank you captain", said the general. "one more thing captain, send my special research crew down on a transport shuttle, tell them to bring my new cloaking device with them, we shall need it to conceal the surface base. That will be all captain...", said the general.


End file.
